DCHAS-L Archives, Apr 17 2014 - Re: FW: [DCHAS-L] Text Suggestion?

If you do this, the teacher should have the companion Guide to Occupational Exposure Values. It provides the TLVs, PELs, RELs, DFG MAKs and the WEELs for comparison as well as all the cancer ratings from those agencies plus IARC and NTP. The teacher can show them that many common chemicals are not evaluated by ACGIH so other groups have stepped into the breach. And that these various agencies have different objectives that explain the differences in their standards. For example, OSHA, by law, has to protect the health of the industry at the expense of the worker, while NIOSH only looks primarily at health. This is also pretty much the standard for DFG, although stakeholders have a voice in the process. But DFG will not set air quality exposure limits for chemicals which do not have thresholds below which harm will not be caused such as for DNA disrupting carcinogens (MAK 1). To set limits for such chemicals is clearly to decide how many workers it is OK to disable or kill. Instead, the place the onus on the employer to provide protections to keep the exposure as close to zero as can be achieved.

If the primary aim is just to teach about TLVs for chemicals rather than all of the TLVs for physical hazards and the BEIs, you could save money by printing out the list at https://www.osha.gov/dsg/annotated-pels/ including the discussion at the beginning where it says "OSHA recognizes that many of its permissible exposure limits (PELs) are outdated and inadequate for ensuring protection of worker health." Then they can see OSHA's annotated list which has the TLVs, RELs, and the California OELs which were based on the court vacated 1989 OSHA PELs and since updated. Every student should know that story.

I have become convinced that teaching safety without the historic and political background only leaves student's mystified and resorting to shear memory. The background puts it all in a context.

Monona Rossol, M.S., M.F.A., Industrial Hygienist

President: Arts, Crafts & Theater Safety, Inc.

Safety Officer: Local USA829, IATSE

181 Thompson St., #23

New York, NY 10012 212-777-0062

actsnyc**At_Symbol_Here**cs.com www.artscraftstheatersafety.org

-----Original Message-----
From: Don Abramowitz <dabramow**At_Symbol_Here**BRYNMAWR.EDU>
To: DCHAS-L <DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**MED.CORNELL.EDU>
Sent: Thu, Apr 17, 2014 6:49 am
Subject: Re: [DCHAS-L] FW: Text Suggestion?

One suggestion for a secondary text: The ACGIH TLV and BEI book (or is it booklet?). The introductory sections on the development process and the introductions and appendices to the TLVs and BEIs themselves contain a wealth of information in a condensed form. And it's of course a handy, almost-pocket-sized reference for the TLVs themselves.

Don

Donald Abramowitz, CIH
Environmental Health & Safety Officer
Bryn Mawr College
Bryn Mawr, PA

Good Afternoon,

What text(s) would you suggest for the following course? Any ideas would be appreciated.

CHEM 4310 Handling Hazardous Materials: "A study of the principles and methods of handling hazardous materials in the workplace. Coverage includes the nature and scope of hazards in the workplace and an overview of regulations of hazardous materials and worker safety, occupational diseases, fundamentals of industrial hygiene, basic concepts of toxicology, and an introduction to risk assessment. Prerequisite: Approval of department chairperson."

Thank you very much.

Best,

Ruth Ann

Ruth Ann Murphy, Ph.D.

Professor of Chemistry

Chairperson, Department of Chemistry, Environmental Science and Geology

Chairperson, Health Professions Advisory Committee

Amy LeVesconte Professorship of Chemistry

JAMP Faculty Director

Goldwater Scholarship Faculty Representative

The University of Mary Hardin-Baylor

900 College Street

Belton, TX 76513-2599

Phone 254.295.4542

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